To lawyers and the judge at his sentencing Tuesday, Frederick Barberi came across as two different people: one, a hard-working family man, the second, a terrifying robber.

Attempting to resolve the contradiction, New London Superior Court Judge Susan Handy sentenced Barberi to 10 years in prison.

In November 2011, authorities say, Barberi joined with his son and held up convenience stores across the region. In one of them, at a Cumberland Farms in Sprague on Nov. 10, Barberi held a knife to a clerk’s throat.

The clerk is still so frightened that she can’t work nights, Handy said.

“These were terrible things that took place,” Barberi’s attorney, Matthew Berger, said. “But the person who did them is not standing here with me.”

Berger said Barberi’s robbery spree was a result of taking painkillers after suffering a “terrible injury at work” in which he hurt his back.

Barberi turned to crime, Berger said, because of the medication and being out of work, which caused him financial problems as well as frustration at his injury.

He and his son, Jason Barberi, robbed the Preston Mobil on Route 12 on Nov. 6, 2011, according to authorities. The next night, Nov. 7, Frederick Barberi and another man robbed the BP gas station in Franklin, police said. The holdup in Sprague came on Nov. 10, involving Frederick and Jason Barberi, according to authorities.

Barberi also pleaded guilty to a drunken-driving charge from January 2011 in Montville.

Jason Barberi was sentenced Feb. 25, also to 10 years in prison.

Handy said that the emotional toll Frederick Barberi took on the people he robbed deserves a relatively long sentence.

“You’re a real contradiction to me,” Handy said. “I look at your life, just a normal person going about his business. … It’s just beyond my understanding how this happened.”

Handy said she believes Barberi can be rehabilitated, but his actions require him to be punished.

“I can’t explain how sorry I am for my actions. I offer no excuse,” Barberi said. He said he has been married for 32 years and is the father of five children. Barberi has a criminal record, but no previous felonies or crimes involving violence.

“This was a break from the pattern of Frederick’s whole life,” Berger said.